Comment by Andrew 'blind boy' Butler on January 3, 2013 at 21:40

Good Stuff Julian.

Comment by julian egan on January 3, 2013 at 23:02

Thanks to you Andrew for making it possible ;-)

Comment by thereallyniceman on January 4, 2013 at 8:40

Hi Julian,

I said on BHO that I thought you were a very accomplished classic style player! Is this all self taught?

Get some nylon strings. I like Medium Clifford Essex strings as their Heavy gauge seem a little too heavy on my Weaver.

I hope that to find the MUSIC LIBRARY of use. There are now over 700 Classic Banjo scores in there!

5*****  from me!

Comment by julian egan on January 4, 2013 at 17:05

Hi Ian, i saw your comment on BHO and it was very encouraging thank you ! Yes, im self taught, i taught myself to play classical guitar 20 years ago and have had an on/off relationship with it up to a couple of years ago when i became consumed !Back then i used to borrow classical guitar tape recordings from the local library and learn pieces by ear because i couldn't ( and still cant) read music . I had to play/rewind,play/rewind,play/rewind until i learned the whole piece! It was laborious but i just had to play so i put up with this method. Then when CDs came onto the market, things got easier, now with things like this site and Utube, its much easier to learn pieces, AND quicker !!! Im learning Kansas Jig at the moment but i noticed your Sunflower Dance video on here and learned this in between because i though it would educate my right hand fingers !   I must admit, my banjo was second fiddle ( pun intended ) to my guitar but my nails seem to be going through a period of self-destruction at present so i dusted off the 'Jo and here i am!

 I mentioned to you that Chris Sands fueled my interest when i heard him but when i bought my banjo i started to learn bluegrass. Then i remembered the name of the piece that i heard Chris playing - Bunch O Rags by Ossman, and turned to ragtime. This has left me in  a quandary as i know that i should be playing with nylon strings for ragtime, in order to get a better sound but if i swap, i wont be able to play bluegrass at a later stage. So i should probably just stay as i am, then at least i can play both. I may just splash out on another banjo at some stage in order to play ragtime but any more instruments in the house and i may have to move to a bigger place.

I very interested in the playing style between the Jo and the guitar. I have learned that my "plucking" hand almost needs to have a strategy in order to progress fluently through a piece. One could be forgiven for thinking " hey, im just plucking some strings, right?" But as you soon learn, the order in which you pluck, can make a big difference!

I have listened to the Juke-box and its very good................so many tunes, so little time eh?

I am about to have two weeks off work so will be plugged into this site a lot more. I will be finishing Kansas Jig and looking for the next challenge. Who knows, i may even make a start on learning to read the dots !!!

Thanks again. 

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